


Once a Soldier Always a Soldier

by cdrlizziebean



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1063800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdrlizziebean/pseuds/cdrlizziebean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard quit working for the Alliance for a good reason--a damned good reason--but it didn't take long for the Alliance to find her again. Hired by a rogue spectre to get some work done, Delaney ends up on Eden Prime where she runs into Alliance, geth, and a few other complications. She loses her crew, her ship, and her patience only to team up with the Alliance to take down her former boss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jenkins

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea going for a little bit mostly because I spent way too much time playing SWTOR and a smuggler Shepard just seemed like a damned good plan. I liked the idea of putting Kaidan in more of an authoritative roll from the beginning and playing around with just how much of Shepard’s story was up to fate. Also thanks to my lovely friends for reading it/ninja editing and bioticbooty for the lovely edits.

Part One: The Artifact

Chapter One: Jenkins

“This place smells worse than yesterday. I thought we cleaned it but it smells like shit. Like really like shit. Mo wouldn’t even sleep in here last night and—”

“Jenkins, will you shut the fuck up and just do your damn job,” Delaney returned, tossing her blonde hair back into a proper mess atop her head.

“Right. Sorry, boss. The Alliance calls the drop an artifact…prothean, I guess.”

“You guess? Your one job is to get the facts straight so we don’t get killed and you say I guess?”

“Um. I’m sure.” Jenkins hesitated, looking over his boss with tentative eyes. She was small, leaning across the counter in the still standing part of a module home, but she was fierce. Her eyes were a sharp grey, digging into him as she blinked up from her datapad, and her jaw flexed with impatience. “I…yeah. It’s a prothean artifact. But that’s all I got.”

Delaney sighed. “Jenkins…”

“Look, the Alliance is being dicks about things. Keeping farmers out of there…even the miners that found it. But I know where it’s at. They’re thinking about moving it soon and…” Jenkins grinned at his employer, waving a hand across his omnitool and sending the data to her. “Here’s the current moving schedule.”

He was grinning at her like an idiot and she couldn’t help but smile back. She wasn’t used to people trying to appease her. She was used to pushing through, and leaving people behind, but now she had a small ship and a grumpy crew and a job on Eden Prime that had kept them there for over a week. And Jenkins was right. The damned place smelled worse than shit.

“Alright good. We’ll move out tomorrow, collect what we came for and bring it back to that damned turian.” She hissed, letting the moldy air stuck in her lungs slowly out, before dropping the datapad on the counter. “I’ll have you tell Mo to get his ass back here and stop sleeping in my cabin while I’m gone sometime early tomorrow, alright?” Jenkins saluted her and she shoved him away. “You’re a prick, you know that?” she teased, actually proud that someone followed her orders without question. It wasn’t something a girl from the streets of Earth was used to. She was always the last one in line. A terminal needed hacking? She was the girl. Leading people on any sort of mission? She wasn’t even asked.

Jenkins laughed. She didn’t know much about him. He had signed up with just that name and his eyes down cast. Please recruit me. She could see it in his eyes. Please accept me. And she couldn’t help but hand him the paperwork and tell him to meet the team at 0600 at the docks. He had been an hour late but so had she.

“Alright. Let’s get some shut eye and—” Her voice was overran by a shuddering blast of sound, like a horn blaring in the distance. The sound enveloped their camp, shaking the already crumbling walls. “The fuck…”

“Do you think the Alliance found something?” Jenkins asked, his voice weak and distant.  
“I don’t think that’s Alliance. Have you heard anything all day?”

He shook his head as another blare shook the camp. “Boss?”

Delaney hesitated, trying to listen for any Alliance retaliation. She couldn’t hear much, but she hoped it was their location and nothing more.

She grabbed her pistol, motioning to Jenkins to do the same, strapped her last grenade to her hip, and pushed out the door. They didn’t need any more setbacks. The job was supposed to be simple. She’d been picked up by a turian in a quiet bar on the Citadel. She brushed him off like any other alien looking to find out how a human felt like under all those layers of clothing, but he had dropped a datapad in front of her and a name.

“How do you even know him?” she had hissed, slamming her drink on the table. The turian laughed and only slid the datapad closer to her.

“He said you’re good at getting things.”

And so she was but this had been more difficult than first anticipated. The Alliance was there in full force, circling like vultures around prey. The last message from her employer arrived an hour before the echo of a landing ship, bigger than anything she had seen before, and towering before her as she bustled out of the building. The message she had received was brief but not hopeful: You aren’t as good as he said you were.

Jenkins rolled passed her, eyes trained on the sky. “What the hell is that, boss?”

“I don’t know. Keep your head down.”

Between the blare of the ship and Jenkins’ heavy breathing, there was nothing more than silence. Nothing felt right. There was no feedback from the Alliance on her comm piece. She waved to Jenkins to sit still a moment as she tried to sink up with any Alliance communications. Still nothing.

She clicked her comms into an open channel and pressed forward. She had to at least find out what that ship was. It didn’t look Alliance. Nothing about this situation felt like it was Alliance. It didn’t even feel like the Council. It was too messy, too loud, too—

A click, buzz, pop. Jenkins called out in panic, dropping to the ground. They were under attack. She popped off a round straight into the turret, then another, clean and quick. She shuffled forward. He wasn’t moving. The recruit she picked up at a bar on Omega, all wide eyed and clutching his pistol like a safety blanket wasn’t moving.

“Jenkins, kid. Speak to me, kid,” she whispered, dropping to her knees. “Come on, kid.” He was still breathing, barely. “Jenkins. Fucking forgot your shields didn’t you. Fucking idiot.”

“Hey, boss…” he breathed, gurgling up blood. “Don’t let my mom know I…I…went this way…I…”  
“Shut up, Jenkins, you aren’t gone yet.” She fumbled with the pack of medi-gel she had in her back pocket.

“I accidentally said you were my girl to her…” He laughed, body jolting. “She said you were pretty…real pretty, boss.”

“Come on, kid…don’t.” She pressed the gel against the wound, blood bubbling up around it. He smiled at her, pressing his hand against hers.

“Hope you don’t mind, boss. It was just to make her happy…you know…”

She smiled back. “We’ll talk about this later, alright kid?” He nodded, closed his eyes, and let go. “Jenkins?” She pressed harder against the wound but nothing. He was gone. Delaney sat back. “Shit.”  
She hadn’t lost anyone in years, and never under her command. She had forgotten how strange it was to have someone else’s blood on your fingers. Her jobs were usually quiet and quick; no one even knew she was there. But now her gloves were soaked in a recruit’s blood; a recruit that she had slept with once when she was drunk and joked with a million times. He talked about his mother too much and had a good imitation of a salarian.

“Shit.” She slipped off her glove, rubbing what she could on her pants. With her freed hand, she reached for his omni-tool. She scanned and transferred the data. Protocol. No one could know what they had been doing.

She hesitated over the orange glow. “I’m sorry Mrs. Jenkins.” She wiped her hand across, doing what she did best. System over system, overlay over firewall, she clicked through file after file and inserted a clean file into the Alliance systems: Corporal Jenkins. She never knew his first name but with a swipe of her hand she corrupted the file enough to just make sense. “She’ll never know the real reason you were out here, kid. Promise.”

Standing up, she sighed. The fucking drop better be worth the loss, she thought. And where the fuck was Mo?

She tried calling her ship, though it really was her ship, was it? The damned turian gave it to her for the job and she lost the only person that took her orders because of it. She switched through the channels again, hoping for something.

Between the static and silence she heard it: the distress. “We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I re…casualties! We can’t…evac! …out of nowhere…”

The ship was definitely not Alliance.


	2. Williams

Chapter Two: Williams.

Threading through the rocky terrain of Eden Prime, Delaney fought off more turrets than she thought needed. They weren’t any model she knew (she had a thumb on the pulse of half the weapons dealers in Citadel space), and she was definitely sure it wasn’t the Alliance. The only thing familiar about them would make them impossible: geth weaponry. Something completely unrealistic since none of the geth had passed the veil in years, centuries; she didn’t remember which. She was never good in history class.

But she was good at recognizing the metal flashlight head turning toward her with metallic precision. She shot until her pistol jammed from heat before crossing over to the lone soldier caught in the firefight.

“Put down the weapon civilian. You don’t want to—”

“Jesus, I’m saving your ass. Don’t fucking give me that Alliance and civilian shit,” Delaney shouted, shaking her pistol before cocking back the trigger and turning to blast out the geth behind the rock. The woman bowed her head, visor covering her eyes. “Name? Do you have a name, soldier?”

“Williams. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams,” the woman returned breathlessly, taking aim at the enemy.

“Delaney.” She popped another round through the glow of the geth’s head and it toppled to the ground: the last one. She dropped her head back against the rock, looking over at the Chief. “What the fuck is happening here?”

“I don’t know. My team was on patrol when the attack happened…I…I don’t think they survived. I’m the only one left.”

Delaney could hear the muffled shit that escaped the Chief’s lips as she examined her rifle. “Yeah, well. You are alive so that’s definitely a thing.” Williams nodded. “And the dig site?” Delany continued brashly. She didn’t have time to sugar coat anything.

“It’s close but…” She paused, furrowing her brows. “How did you know about the dig site?”

“I was with the miners,” she dismissed, hastily looking away. She wasn’t that good at lying if they called her on it. “How about we go check it out? Hmm? See if anyone needs our help?”

The soldier looked Delaney over. This wasn’t going exactly how she’d hoped and, though she would, Delaney didn’t want to draw her gun on a soldier, especially one that lost her team.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to request that you stay here, out of harm’s way. Back up is on the way I can guarantee it and—”

Delaney locked her jaw, lowering her gun. “Right, move along. I’ll find some way to protect myself,” she breathed, waving her hand at Williams before turning away.

Ashley gave a sharp nod, turned on her heels, and disappeared into the thick of rocks.

“You’ll be lucky to survive charging head on like that, kid,” she muttered after the woman, moving forward. She still had a job to do and she needed to do it quick and get off the damned planet.

She kept her distance from the Chief as she moved forward, picking the enemy off one by one. Delaney only assisted once or twice, quietly taking down a few stragglers without the Chief noticing. Being in numbers was going to be safer than going it alone but she didn’t want to get any more involved with the Alliance. The last time she had, things went downhill quick.

At the dig site, Delaney stayed behind. If the artifact was there, she’d be able to retrieve and leave, even if she couldn’t contact her ship. They had a rendezvous point on the other side of camp to the east, far away from the dig site and the Alliance: something relatively safe.

But by the way Williams hesitated at the site, she knew the artifact wasn’t there. Shit, she thought, looking back the way they came.

“Wait! You there.” Delaney froze, holding her breath. “You. Soldier, what’s your name?” The voice continued. It was huskier, brash but calm all at the same time. She turned to see Williams addressing another soldier, probably Alliance with how sharp her salute was.

“Williams, sir. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212,” she returned, relieved to see another soldier. “Are you here as backup?”

The man rubbed the back of his neck, shifting on his heels. “Not exactly I’m here for the Prothean technology but…” He stopped, visibly contemplating something before continuing. “I’m Commander Kaidan Alenko, by the way. Are you hurt, Williams?”

This commander was softer spoken than any commander Delaney had run into and seemingly cared if the Chief was alright. Delaney squinted at him, unable to tell more from his suit than he was indeed a man—tall; broad shouldered; probably handsome with the way he naturally lowered his voice in front of a woman, which made everything damned difficult to hear.

Delaney rolled her eyes, leaning closer to get a better grasp of the situation. Her hand slipped on the crumbling rock, causing Williams’ eyes to dart from her new companion to the rock alcove Delaney had tucked herself in.

“You!” she shouted. The Commander spun around, gun level with Delaney as she slowly stood, hands up and gun tucked safely to her back. “I told you to stay back. Why are you following me?”

“Safer in numbers, right…Commander…um…” She dropped her arms. “Didn’t really catch your name…sorry.” She smiled that half smile she used to put on when playing decoy for the reds, but she wasn’t ten years old anymore and this man, standing before her with gun drawn, wasn’t a nice old baker. He wasn’t easily convinced that she was harmless. She’d followed Williams willingly into danger at least twice now. She could see the wheels turning behind the Commander’s caramel eyes.

“Alenko. State your business,” he continued, gun tip lowering to the ground. She knew that stance. He didn’t trust her but didn’t want her to panic just yet.

“Well my business doesn’t really involve either of us shooting at each other. At this point it’s just getting off this damned planet,” she retorted, crossing her arms. There was a pause between them as he scanned her eyes. She blinked her grey eyes at him, trying to not seem too anxious to get moving. She still needed to find the artifact and finish her job.

He sighed, dropping his pistol to his side. “You should find someplace safe until—”

Gunshot: clear and sharp as it echoed in the distance. Alenko spun on his heels, drawing his gun up again. “Nihlus,” he hissed through his teeth before turning to the Chief. “You coming with me, soldier?” She nodded, giving one last look back at Delaney before they both disappeared around the corner of the dig site.


	3. Fired

Chapter Three: Fired.

Before she could blindly charge forward after the two Alliance soldiers and once again get herself in a situation with a gun pointed at her, her omni-tool buzzed. A message from Saren, her turian investor, shown before her, bright and orange and not what she wanted to hear.

I’m sorry Miss Delaney. Your services are no longer needed. Your ship has been confiscated. Have a nice day.

“Fucking, Spectres,” she breathed, feeling every inch of her body twitch in anger. She wasn’t going to get her pay; she had lost the ship she’d only gotten a few months before; and she couldn’t reach a single member of her crew, though they had probably left with the ship since their allegiances were to a paycheck. She was deserted on a colony on the edge of Terminus Space with what seemed like an army of geth coming out of a ship three times the size of anything she’d ever had the chance to be aboard. “I should have stayed on Omega,” she muttered to herself before checking her pistol, and trudged ahead.  
The soldiers had moved faster than she had expected, clearing out masses of geth as they moved. She didn’t realize how much she missed the well ground in tactics from people who could actually shoot a gun until it was standing a few yards ahead of her. Being a smuggler didn’t leave her much for selection, especially when her last business partner left with her ship, crew, and bounty—slipping silently into space without a word. She had been the one with the reputation, been in a bot battle or two on Omega and come out with only a few bruises and scratches, but she wasn’t the one with the supplies or the connections. She was brute force with a smile and now she was aiding Alliance soldiers even after she’d told herself she never would again.

Delaney softly stepped up to the Commander as he questioned a man who had hid behind a storage crate when the attack occurred. The ground creaked under her as she approached. Alenko turned abruptly, definitely frightened at how quiet Delaney was.

“Sorry,” she whispered, honestly, closing the gap between them all. She turned to the man behind the crates. “I’d say you’re a bit lucky.”

He nodded slowly, eyes darting between Delaney and the two well-armed soldiers. “My name’s Powell,” he quickly stated, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him.”

“You’re saying Nihlus was murdered by a turian?” Delaney blurted out before Alenko could continue to question him.

“The other one was here first…he was waiting when your friend showed up. He…he called him Saren. I think they knew each other.”

It couldn’t be. Delaney thought, taking a half step back to collect herself. Shit. He’s here. The Commander turned, noticing Delaney’s sudden change in confidence.

“Do you know him?” Her head snapped up as the Commander spoke. “Saren? Do you know him?”  
She swallowed, not sure if she should say anything. She couldn’t tell him that she was working for the turian that just killed one of their own. She balled up her fists, picking at her thumbnails. Delaney thought quickly, trying not to let the Commander’s gaze get to her. “The artifact…” she muttered, letting the words soak on her lips just a moment before pushing forward. “There was a Prothean artifact found here…where is it now?”

Powell twitched in place, looking back at the soldiers for permission. Kaidan, though still suspicious of Delaney, turned back to the man.

“It’s over on the other platform.” He shifted towards the train, hand shaking as he gestured. “Probably where that Saren guy was headed since he took the cargo train…after…” His voice trailed off.  
Of course, Delaney thought. Saren would head to the artifact, take it while there was still confusion, and leave.

“I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything’s gone to hell since we found it,” Powell continued, muttering to himself.

“Beacon?” Delaney questioned.

“You don’t know what it was?” Williams asked, stepping in front of her. “I thought you said you were with the miners?”

Delaney chuckled nervously. “About that I—”

“We don’t have time for this,” the Commander interrupted. “What’s your name?”

“Delaney. People call me Delaney,” she muttered, tilting her head in confusion.

“Can you handle yourself on the field, Delaney?”

Blinking, Delaney stood with her mouth open.

“Well, can you?”

She shifted forward, pulling the pistol out of the back of her waistband and cocking the thermal clip into place. “Yeah.”

The Commander nodded, heading towards the cargo train. “You’re underarmored, so stay behind us.” He turned abruptly, standing a few inches from her. “Add only supporting fire, you understand.”

She straightened up at the sound of the order. It had been a long time since someone had talked to her like that. “Yes…sir. I understand completely, sir.”


	4. Beacon

Chapter Four: The Beacon.

Saren was already gone. She could feel it in every inch of her being. The cargo train slowed to a stop, pulling into the station under the heavy fire of geth. Delaney moved quickly off the platform and onto the ledge, stumbling directly into a bomb.

4:58. 4:57. 4:56.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, dropping to her knees before the machine.

“Demolition charges,” Alenko called out, settling beside her. “The geth must have planted them.”

“Yeah,” she breathed, gliding her hand over the control panel. “I’ll take care of this while—”

“Like hell you are,” he retorted. Williams shouted something a few feet away but was drowned out by heavy fire.

“Look I know what I’m doing and you have the armor. Let me do this and you shoot the geth,” she stated firmly, turning back to the bomb.

It wasn’t a lie. She had become skilled at disabling bombs, alarms, safes: there wasn’t anything with a lock or a code she couldn’t crack. The control panel beeped and flickered under her fast fingers until it fizzled and shut off.

“Alright,” she shouted. “Let’s find the rest.” Kaidan looked her over, letting her pass before him as they moved up the ramp.

“Good job,” he complimented.

“Tell me that after I’ve disabled the rest,” she teased, jumping up at the sight of another one a few feet in front of her. She moved across the walkway and into an alcove protecting the second bomb. She went to work again; this time faster, knowing the algorithm of the charges. When the bomb’s screen flickered off, she smiled. She caught the Commander’s eye a few feet away behind cover. “Aren’t you glad you have me around now?” she mused, winking.

He rolled his eyes but she could tell he was smiling under his helmet. “Only if you shut them down.”  
And she did: quick and easy, dropping the third and fourth before the timer reached zero. “That’s all of them,” she called. The fire fight around her quieted; the geth cleared out by Alenko and Williams as Delaney worked on the bombs.

She stood up slowly, lingering behind a few feet as the soldiers investigated the area around the Prothean artifact. Saren had left it—the beacon—even though he had gone through all that work to reach it. Delaney observed it, tentatively, being more interested in what the two soldiers were going to do with her now that the enemy was gone.

Alenko radioed into his command before addressing Williams again. The Commander moved forward, and for every step, Delaney mimicked only a few feet behind.

“This is amazing,” he muttered to himself. “Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable.”

“It wasn’t doing anything like that when they dug it up,” Williams stated before turning back to Delaney. “Speaking of which. You said you were with the miners, but…”

Over the Chief’s shoulder, Delaney could see the glow of the beacon and the Commander as he inched closer. The light flickered and flashed—charging out at him from the base.

“Commander?” Delaney whispered. Williams stopped, turning back to the beacon.

“Commander!” Williams echoed.

Charging forward, Delaney tackled the Commander out of the way. She stumbled back, landing directly in the glow of the beacon. She took in a sharp breath, feeling her spine snap with electricity; her nerves feeling heavy in her fingers and toes. Her body lifted from the ground and dark images filled her mind: all leading to death, nothing but death.

When the beacon let her go, exploding, her body shot back, landing hard on the ground. Every nerve in her body throbbing and before she could take in another breath, her mind went black.


	5. Visions

Chapter Five: Visions.

She awoke to the subtle beep of a heart monitor and her head full—a cross between being stuffed full of cotton balls and being beaten with a hammer against the temple. Her mouth felt as if it was sewn shut; chapped lips sticking together. She moaned as if to try to alert her body to her consciousness but everything was heavy and her head wouldn’t stop thumping to the beep of the heart monitor.

Slowly opening her eyes, Delaney twitched her fingers and flinched at the light above her. It wasn’t too bright. The room around her was a hazy glow of blue.

“Doctor…Dr. Chakwas. I think she’s waking up.”

She turned her head toward the voice; a man stood in her blurry vision. She sat up, rubbing her eyes furiously in an attempt to regain focus. She blinked back over to the man—the commander from Eden Prime—and around him was the metallic shell of a ship. She was in a ship. It wasn’t her ship, but a ship. She dropped her head into her hands and gave an exasperated sigh.

Footsteps grew near her, light and most likely not the commanders. “You had us worried there, miss…” The woman paused as to give Delaney time to fill in who she was but she never did. “How are you feeling?” she pressed on, pulling Delaney’s hand away from her face and shone a small light in her eyes.

She flinched. “Like I just had round two with that krogan bartender on Omega,” she gurgled, surprised at her own voice. “How long was I out?”

“About fifteen hours,” the doctor said matter-of-factly. “Something happened down there with the beacon, I think.”

“It’s my fault,” Kaidan interjected, sheepishly. “I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way…” He paused. “Thank you for that by the way,” he added quietly, looking down.

Delaney grumbled, sliding off the hospital bed and steadying herself on the edge. He reached out to help her, grabbing her by the waist. She hesitated, brushing away his hand carefully before looking up. He was close. “I doubt it was your fault,” she whispered, afraid to raise her voice too loud in the space between them. “You couldn’t have known what would happen.”

A smirk flickered across his face as he stepped back. “Still…I thank you for saving me.” Delaney nodded.

The doctor sighed. “We don’t even know if that set it off and now we’ll never get a chance to find out. But you…”

“Good you’re awake,” a familiar voice called out; a voice she had heard a long time ago in a place not too different than where she was at. She froze in place. “How is she doing?”

“Abnormal beta waves, an increase in rapid eye movement, but other than that. She’s physically fine.”  
“That’s good to hear. Alenko do you mind leaving us for a moment.” The man turned to her. “Let me introduce myself, I’m Captain David Anderson and you’re on the SSV Normandy.”

“I recognize your name,” she stated quietly, searching his face to see if he recognized her. His eyes showed nothing but concern. “I’m Delaney.”

“Delaney?”

“I don’t go by anything else,” she returned quickly.

“Alright. Can you tell me what you saw down there, Delaney?”

She blinked at him, locking her jaw into place. “Besides my boss abandoning me on a planet and nearly getting me killed and that…beacon, right? Shoving something graphic into my brain…nothing much happened.” She smirked, eyes hollow as she waited for his response.

“Well, this is going to be one hell of a report then.”


	6. Assholes

Part Two: The Mission  
Chapter Six: Assholes.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” she shouted as the commander escorted her off the platform. The Council wouldn’t listen. Saren accused her of lying. He would never hire a human outlaw. He was an asshole and she was going to find his spiny ass and kick it back into Terminus space.

“Calm down,” Alenko whispered; his hand still on the crook of her elbow.  
“I am calm.”

“We’ll figure out something,” he muttered.

“We’ll have to. That asshole tried to kill me and took my ship,” she hissed. Anderson cleared his throat, interrupting them. Kaidan’s hand slipped from her arm and she finally realized how long he had been holding her there.

“We made a mistake bringing you here, Anderson. You have too much history with Saren,” Udina, the human ambassador, spat at the Captain. “And you,” he continued, turning toward Delaney with narrowed eyes, “are the exact opposite of what we need right now. A criminal is the last person the Council would listen to.”

“But it’s the truth,” she returned, crossing her arms.

“Doesn’t matter to them. Your kind is what’s keeping humanity from getting a place on the Council and now our chances of having a human spectre is out the window…” Udina continued, half muttering to himself.

“My kind?” Delaney narrowed her eyes.

“Yes, your kind.”

“Enough,” Anderson interjected. “Let’s push forward. The only way we have a chance of making things right is to expose Saren.”

“Agreed.” Udina shifted in place.

“What about Garrus that C-Sec investigator?” Kaidan suggested.

“I know a man…a contact in C-Sec who could help track him down. His name is Harkin.”  
Anderson’s features changed at the sound of the man’s name. It was obvious to Delaney that Harkin wasn’t the Captain’s first choice.

Delaney nodded, watching him carefully. “Do you think we can bring him down?”

“We?” Udina interjected, offended by the idea. “You are not getting involved in this. Neither of you are. Commander Alenko and Chief Williams will be in charge of finding out the information.” Delaney snarled as she watched Udina storm off toward the elevator. Asshole. She looked over at the two soldiers standing beside her quietly.

“What about the Shadow Broker?” she added. “I’ve gotten information from him before…for a price.” The Chief, who had been quiet most of the meeting, stepped forward.

“There’s no way the Alliance will work with the Shadow Broker. He’s a crook.”

“Well I’m a crook according to Udina. I’ll see what I can get,” she said, kind enough.

Williams looked down at her hands. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know.” Delaney turned to Anderson. “If you’ll allow me to gather information, I’ll talk to a few sources I have.”

“Of course. We’ll need your assistance, Miss Shepard. Or should I say Lieutenant Shepard,” Anderson said with a smirk.

She swallowed, feeling her spine tingle with fear. “Sir…”

The flash of confusion that passed through the Chief and Commander’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed. Delaney could feel her knees shake even as she stood there, head back and spine strong. She had feared he had recognized her on the ship, and though he never showed it, he must have.

“You seemed familiar,” he stated, as if reading her mind, “back on the Normandy. I did a little research.”

She nodded as if it explained everything. How she joined the Alliance to get out of her horrible life back on earth. How she dug deep and fought hard to show them that she belonged there. She showed promise. She showed determination. She was a great soldier until…

“Sir,” she repeated, clearing her throat. “I’m not a soldier anymore.”

He chuckled. “Hear that, Alenko? She says she’s not a soldier anymore but she hasn’t shifted out of attention yet.”

She looked over at Kaidan who avoided her gaze. Anderson was right. Her feet were planted, shoulders back, and hands clasped behind her. It was habit. A habit she never thought she’d end up being back in. She usually acted so calm and jovial, slouching even when giving orders to her crew, but as soon as she was around soldiers, as soon as she was on a ship where command was formulated, she was back into the habit of raising her head and shifting her shoulders back.

She looked down, moving her shoulders forward again. “Captain,” she said barely over a whisper. “I’ll help you the best I can.” She looked up, fear and anger mixed in her eyes. “But I am not a soldier anymore.”

“But you were,” Kaidan stated kindly. Her head snapped to him. “Why aren’t you anymore?” Their eyes met for a moment and when he realized she wasn’t going to answer him, he turned to Anderson.

“That’s something I don’t have the right to talk about, but Shepard…” Delaney grimaced at the sound of her own name.

“Yes, sir?” she scowled.

“Your file states that you are still a soldier.”

She looked up at him. “The file’s wrong.”

“Yes, ma’am.”


	7. Resignation

Chapter Seven: Resignation.

It took nearly four days on the Citadel for enough information to be collected about Saren to get the Council to listen. During those four days, they collected a krogan with a vendetta, Garrus who was just as skeptical about Delaney being Alliance as Williams was, and a quarian with the evidence to take Delaney’s former employer down. She had also gained a Commander’s gaze whenever she absent-mindedly gave an order.

“For a woman who says she’s not a soldier, you give an awful lot of orders,” he joked. She glared at him. “I mean, Anderson won’t let me look at your file, but he says it’s impressive. How can you not say you’re a soldier?”

“I can because it’s true,” she hissed. “Just because the file says I am doesn’t mean it’s true. They always make you take those damned psych tests. Do you think I’ll pass?” She was giving away more than she wanted and she knew it, but the words tumbled over her lips before she had a chance to take them back.

His voice dropped as he spoke, “You just have a real leadership quality.” If, in her mind, she was still a soldier, he was complimenting an inferior officer.

She sighed. “I did have a ship you know…” Her eyes drifted to the floor. “A crew…”

He cleared his throat awkwardly and her eyes snapped up. “I’m sorry,” he responded. He was honest and she hated that. She’d rather get lied to.

“Yeah. I’m used to shit like that.”

He tilted his head in curiosity but didn’t question it. “Anderson says we have enough information to take down Saren.”

“About time,” she stated clearly.

“But that’s not going to be enough,” called Anderson as he approached. They had been waiting for him in the tower before presenting the evidence to the Council. Delaney had asked Ashley to speak to everyone about who would talk when and when Delaney realized how involved she was becoming in something like this, she moved to the other side of the fountain area for some quiet. Kaidan had followed soon after obviously something on his mind, but he hadn’t delved into it before Anderson approached.

Delaney turned, acutely aware of how her shoulders rose at his presence. “And why not?” She wanted to add sir but she dug her nails into her palms to stop the word from coming out of her mouth. She hated how quickly she folded to his terms. He believed she was a soldier so she acted like one around him. She respected him.

When she was still in the Alliance he had come to see her train, and after the incident, he had comforted her. He told her it wasn’t her fault; a thresher maw was not her fault could never be her fault. But she had hoped he’d forgotten.

He hadn’t.

“Saren’s out in terminus space. He’s a rogue Spectre with connections. We need a Spectre on our side to go get him.” Anderson looked at Kaidan and then back at Delaney. She took a step back.

“And?” She had a bad feeling about what they were saying.

“Shepard,” Anderson’s voice was sharp, “we need to re-enlist you. We need you to become a Spectre.” This was an order but Delaney couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” Her voice cracked. “Why me? Why not him?” She pointed at Kaidan. “I’m a rank below him even if I re-enlisted. I’m a nothing. I’m—”

“A survivor.” Anderson’s voice cut into her. She snapped her mouth shut. “Nihlus wanted someone like you, Shepard. Hell if he was alive right now and I showed him your file he wouldn’t even have hesitated.”

She turned to Kaidan. “And you think this too? You don’t even know me.”

He nodded. “If Anderson thinks you’re right, so do I. I don’t want to be a Spectre.” His eyes darted away. Even as a Commander he doubted himself but she wasn’t exactly sure why. He was confident enough in battle. His biotics were impressive. If she had had his biotics back on Akuze maybe things would have gone differently.

She swallowed. “Well I don’t want to be one either.”

“We need you, Delaney,” Kaidan returned, his voice almost pleading. Her body grew warm. Fuck this guy, she thought. Fuck both of them.

“I can’t,” she breathed. “Don’t you understand? Even if I re-enlist I won’t pass the psych exam. I couldn’t pass it then. It was too much. I can’t take this anymore.”

Kaidan was staring at her. She blinked and realized there were tears on her cheeks. “What the hell even happened?” he exclaimed, looking from her back to Anderson.

She swallowed, rubbing the tears from her eyes. She hadn’t talked about what happened to her for years. She had quit because she feared not being good enough. People talked of her being an N7 by the end of it all. She would rise in ranks faster than any other soldier because of how put together she was after the incident. But she wasn’t put together. She was afraid. She screamed in her sleep for months after. Even now she would wake up in a cold sweat once in a while, mind drifting back to the cries of her fellow soldiers and how she couldn’t save them. She wasn’t a leader; she was a disaster.

“Take the test, Shepard. Be a Spectre. Honor those who died on Akuze.” Anderson kept his focus, ignoring the tears still in the corner of her eyes.

“Wait.” Kaidan took a step forward. “Akuze? You…” He looked her up and down, pausing on the scars draped across her chin and the corner of her mouth as if they told the tale of what happened that day. “Wow…”

“Stop it,” she snapped. “Stop acting like I’m something I’m not. I’m good at putting on a face, but that test? I can’t be questioned like that and—”

“Tell me what happened that day,” Anderson commanded. She narrowed her eyes. Kaidan looked down and took a step back. There was silence between them. “Do as I say, Lieutenant,” he barked though his eyes held worry.

She snapped to attention at his words. “Morning was like normal,” she began slowly, feeling every inch of her body tingle. She didn’t want to remember any of this but there was no way for her to forget. “By afternoon it wasn’t. I was ordered to protect the compound with about a dozen other soldiers but there weren’t enough of us.” She swallowed. “I watched that thing break through the wall like knife through butter and…” She looked up at Anderson with tears in her eyes. “It killed them all…every last one.”

“Last question, Delaney,” Anderson whispered. His voice was soothing now as he spoke to her. “How did you survive?”

“By shooting a rocket down the bastard’s throat,” she stated; no emotions in her eyes.

Anderson took a half step forward. “That’s good enough for me, Lieutenant. Or should I say Commander otherwise there’s no way Udina would let you be a Spectre. Though it’s not his choice.” Anderson smiled before moving forward. He signaled to the rest of the group to head up to the Council meeting area.

Delaney opened her mouth to speak but it snapped shut when she realized there was no arguing with him. To him, she was good enough to still be a soldier. To be able to recall something like that so simply showed she was sane enough to move forward; though she only told half of it. It had been years since Akuze but she remembered everything in gritty detail. She even remembered the pain of the acid on her face and the rubble thrown against her backside.

“You’ll be fine,” Kaidan mustered up, closing the space between them. He settled his hand on her shoulder and smiled. “If Anderson believes you’ll be a great Spectre than I do too. We need someone with grit, someone with will. I can’t even imagine what happened on Akuze but you made it through.”

She blinked up at him. “I still remember all of their names you know. I don’t think that makes me gritty.” She snorted, shaking her head.

“Nawh, but it makes you a good leader. You know sacrifice and you know the consequences. Not enough people think about those.” His hand slipped from her shoulder as he moved away. She watched him walk up the stairs before following.

He was honest and nice and somehow, he was getting under her skin. Something she wasn’t used to.


	8. The Archeologist

Chapter Eight: The Archeologist.

She didn’t know what tasted funnier on her tongue: Commander Shepard or Spectre Shepard. The Council had resigned to giving her Spectrehood after all the evidence on Saren and strategic ego stroking by Anderson. Udina was pacified only by the glory of the first human Spectre and not because she was going to be it.

The paperwork had been filed before she accepted. She was with the Alliance again but still her own entity. Her records scrubbed, again. Third time her records had seen the shredder: once when she was joining the Alliance, once when she left, and now as she joined again.

And now she had a ship bigger and better than any she had before: the Normandy. Jeff Moreau sat at the helm, hesitant at his new commanding officer, but as soon as Delaney slid into the seat beside him and asked how well the damned ship moved, he cracked a smile.

Rumors spread throughout the ship about who she really was. Some said space pirate, others brought up Akuze as if they had been there with her, but none spoke directly to her; they hadn’t even talked to her after the beacon. All she had were the crew that she had found on the Citadel and on Eden Prime, plus a quirky pilot who told horrible jokes.

She settled on gaining another voice on her side by searching for an archeologist on Therum. She was a Prothean expert it seemed and it was a chance to explain the new nightmares the beacon had caused. Delaney didn’t exactly mind them since they woke her less than any nightmare she had about Akuze, but she didn’t think they should go unexplained.

They landed on the planet with a dull thud, jarring all those in the Mako hard before rolling forward. She wasn’t used to landing vehicles on a planet but she was fine driving it for the most part. She brought Kaidan and Ashley and neither hesitated at the chance. Even if she didn’t have friends on the ship she at least had people who followed her order.

It didn’t take long for them to find the enemy. geth dropships set Armatures against them as soon as they rounded the corner. Delaney hated fighting in the vehicle and spent half her time jumping out just to use the Mako as cover but her squad followed suit without questioning. She looked over at Kaidan as they downed another geth armature. She could see his eyes below his visor, set in determination, and his biotics cracking about him. She never did understand biotics. She had done a few lines of sand with a few jittery ones and drunken one under the table when she was twenty three but neither of those times really gave her an insight, and red sand made her nose burn. Kaidan was a good soldier; he wasn’t like the lowlifes she’d grown up around.

“Alright there, Commander?” he asked, after noticing her gaze.

She nodded, blinking back into focus. “How much more do you think these bastards are gonna drop on us?”

“Hopefully not much more,” Ashley called, moving to get back into the Mako. “Let’s get the archeologist and get the hell out…” She paused, turning back to Delaney. “…Commander.”

“Right behind you Williams,” she returned with a laugh.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kaidan chuckled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two were old friends.”

Delaney clicked the Mako into gear and smiled. They had gotten a few drinks in. Ashley talked to Shepard about her sister, her family. Shepard talked about friends she had made and lost. They talked about times they were drunk and times where they were too sober for a situation. They talked about the Normandy, the crew, and Kaidan (though their eyes darted from each other and it always ended in some sort of trailed off whisper).

They rounded the corner; the excavation site in view. Jumping back out of the vehicle, Delaney motioned for Kaidan and Ashley to flank her. She had a bad feeling. The silence was not something she found to be promising especially with the amount of geth that had surrounded them earlier.

Before she could give another order, geth dropped to the ground, guns blazing. They moved to cover, taking trooper after trooper down before focusing on the armature. With the assistance with Kaidan’s biotics the armature was taken down quickly.

Delaney sighed. “This archeologist better be damned good,” she hissed.

“Definitely,” Ashley returned, moving forward.

After two more encounters and a mining laser, Delaney found herself standing before the young asari. “Name’s Delaney Shepard, you must be the girl we’re looking for.”

The asari squared herself to the three of them, brushing off her jacket. “I’m Liara T’soni. I thank you for saving me.”

Delaney grinned. “We aren’t done yet.”

They entered the elevator and as it stopped, a collection of mercs appeared at the door.

“Delaney? Is that you?” the head krogan laughed. She gritted her teeth. “Long time no see.”

“Didn’t think you’d team up with geth, Daljad,” she laughed, lining her gun up at his throat. There was no way she’d get a shot at his crest.

“You know him?” Kaidan asked, standing up beside Liara to keep her protected.

“Yeah, we worked once or twice together.”

“Who are you anyway, Miss Shepard?” Liara asked.

“Yes, Delaney. Why don’t you tell her who you are exactly?”

“She’s Commander Shepard and the first human Spectre,” Ashley spat. “And you need to get out of our way.”

“No, we’re taking the asari,” the krogan hissed.

Delaney moved her gun, settling in on one of the geth and pulled the trigger. “No. You’re not.”

The krogan laughed, “This is going to be fun.”


	9. Complicated Relationships

Chapter Nine: Complicated Relationships.

Taking Liara to Noveria wasn’t the best idea Delaney ever had but that was the decision she had made and it was the one that was followed. Liara watched as her mother mercilessly attacked them and in the end watched her mother die at the hands of Delaney. But it wasn’t even the death that made Delaney not want to look her in the eye. It was the control Saren had on Liara’s mother until the very end. A curse she never wished on anyone.

On returning to the Normandy, Delaney tried to talk to Liara but she moved out of the decontamination room and down the stairs with great speed.

She groaned, feeling too worthless to follow. What could you say to a girl who just watched her mother die? What could you say to a person who had assisted with that end?

Back on the streets of Earth, Delaney had seen many people die without comment. The Reds weren’t exactly comforting people. And on Akuze she watched too many die in a blink of an eye but she never was the one to go to their families and comfort them. She didn’t know how.

“You alright?” the pilot asked. She had learned his nickname was Joker within a few days on the ship and found, with the combo of his horrible jokes, to be quite entertaining.

“Yeah…” She sighed, running a hand through her light hair before turning to him. “Not the best family reunion is all.”

“Oh, that bad, huh?”

She just nodded. “You think it best to talk to her now?”

Joker shrugged. “Hell if I know; I’m just the pilot.”

“Extremely helpful, Moreau. Can’t believe you haven’t gotten a promotion yet,” she returned dryly. He snorted. She pushed forward.

“Good luck,” he called to her as she left. She skipped down the stairs but stopped right outside the medical bay.

“Shit,” she muttered to herself. She had no idea what to do at this point. She didn’t even know if Liara wanted to even see her. They had grown a bit close from the few trips she had brought Liara on during stops at port, but she wasn’t close enough to really have any insight. She was going in dark and she never liked that.

“Hey.”

She jumped at the voice and turned. “Oh, Kaidan. It’s you…”

“A bit jumpy?” She nodded and he chuckled. “I was thinking about going to see her too but I don’t know what to say.”

“Can’t just give her a holo-card or something?” she mused, leaning back against the wall.

He shook his head, a smile plastered on his lips. “I don’t think she’d appreciate it.”

“I’ve never had to say sorry for something like this before,” she sighed. “Never had the chance.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. There’s a few people I wish I could have said sorry to…or tried to make it right, you know?” She hummed. “Back in BAaT, I hurt someone…wish I could take it back sometimes.”

“What’s her name?”

He chuckled. “It’s a bit more complicated than that but her name was Rahna. I was head over heels for her but I was an idiot too. Biotic training was tough. There was a turian named Vyrnnus who taught us but he was a hard ass. We couldn’t even lift a glass of water without using our biotics and…Rahna was too tired to do it anymore. She reached for a glass instead of pulling it and he hurt her.”

“And you hurt him?” She knew situations like that well. She had done it many times herself when one of her own was taken down. She couldn’t say sorry but she could take revenge.

“Yeah. Killed him.” Kaidan looked down. “And afterwards, Rahna wouldn’t even look at me. I was a monster.” He sighed, looking at the medbay door and not Delaney.

“So…who do you want to say sorry to? Vyrnnus or Rahna?”

He looked over at her. “I don’t know exactly. I don’t regret it exactly but…”

“Yeah. I know the feeling. Not something to live through twice.” He nodded, solemnly. She stood from the wall and moved to the medbay. “It’s now or never,” she teased. “You coming with?”

“Nawh,” he returned. “I’ll wait out here for you.”

“Really?”

“I don’t think both of us going in there wou—”

“No.” She paused. She could feel her heart thud. “The waiting part.”

He smiled, sheepishly. “Sure. If you don’t mind.”

Her face grew warm. “I don’t mind.” And with that she pushed through the door to speak with Liara who kept the conversation brief and cool. There was an inkling of hurt in her eyes as she spoke to Shepard but Delaney couldn’t pin it on anything she said about her mother. She was proud of the Matriarch somehow. Their relationship was strained but in the end they were still family and now Saren took that away from her. It wasn’t sadness filling her words but revenge.

“I suppose you are busy, Shepard.”

“Please, just call me Delaney. I hate the name Shepard.”

“Oh?” Liara questioned, head tilting. “But Commander Alenko calls you that frequently.”

“On the field but otherwise…”

“You like him don’t you?” The hurt was in her eyes again and Delaney swallowed. She had helped rescue Liara; they shared a bond over Prothean technology and the beam; and after a bottle of tequila Delaney had done something similar to flirting. And now Liara was hurt.

“Shit,” she breathed. “I…”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Liara’s voice picked up with understanding. Delaney blinked up at her, conflicted. She should say no. There was no way she would get involved with an Alliance soldier. There was no way she’d put herself in such a situation. She didn’t get attached to people but he was too nice to her, too honest.

“I…” She was watching Liara now. The smile on her face was genuine. She was mature for a young asari. Delaney had met asari twice her age with less maturity but they had also been in a business where immaturity was standard.

“You’re a wonderful person, Delaney. An extraordinary woman.”

Shepard smiled. “So are you Liara.”

Liara turned back to the desk and sat down. “You shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Delaney swallowed. “You heard us, huh?”

“It was kind of you to both worry about me.”

Bowing her head, Delaney left, meeting up with Kaidan who was waiting, just like he said he would, right outside the door.

“Are you on break?” she asked tentatively.

“For now,” he mused. “With Tali on board there isn’t much for me to try to fix up.”

“Too many tech people on one ship?” Delaney laughed.

“You aren’t any help either,” he teased and Delaney couldn’t help but relax.

“I was wondering if I could treat you to a drink. I’ve got a bottle of scotch in the captain’s cabin that is begging to be cracked,” she stated, sheepishly, waiting for the refusal.

“I’m usually a whiskey man but I could go for a scotch.”

Delaney smiled, almost childishly, and had to stop herself from skipping off to the cabin. Jesus, Dee. Keep it together. You aren’t a little girl. But she nearly felt that way. She could feel deep down she could trust him. He believed in her after barely just meeting her and she didn’t care if it was because he trusted Anderson’s decision; he didn’t have to support her being a Spectre. He didn’t even have to support her being on the Normandy but with him there, ready to take her orders, the crew had relaxed. Joker talked to her more freely. Pressly didn’t roll his eyes at her as much. She felt at home with him around.

He followed her to her cabin, entered behind her, and examined the room. She could feel his eyes land on her as she moved to the cabinet, taking out the scotch and two glasses before moving to the desk. “Don’t spend much time in here do you?” he asked, crossing over to her.

“Hm?”

He nodded over to the bed, made tight up with not a single pillow out of place. “Bed looks like it’s never been slept in.”

“It hasn’t been.” She handed him a glass. “I sleep on the couch.” She gestured over to the small bench, a blanket draped over the corner. He looked at her quizzically. “I don’t feel I deserve to sleep in the captain’s bed,” she added quietly before he could ask. “Besides, I don’t sleep that much anyway.”  
She watched him move to the bench and sit; his eyes still wondering back to the bed with a furrowed brow.

“Don’t think too hard on it,” she sighed, settling in beside him. Her arm brushed up against his and he didn’t pull away. “I’m a basket case really.”

“I doubt that,” he chuckled. She hummed in disagreement, taking a sip. He copied before continuing. “You’ve been a great leader so far. You’ve kept a cool head even when we faced Benezia. You thought to talk to Liara. Ash likes you. I…” He swallowed, looking at his half empty glass. “I like you.”

“I like you too, Kaidan,” she whispered, finishing off her glass and grabbing the bottle. She filled her glass and turned to him. “You want more?” He tilted his head to her, offering up his glass. She filled it, tapped hers against his, and downed the glass in two hardy gulps.

He chuckled at her again. “You sure like your scotch.”

“It takes off the edge,” she muttered, filling her glass again. He leaned forward, settling his hand against hers.

“Hey, you’re doing fine,” he stated quietly. His face was inches from hers; his breath warm against her cheek. “We’ll get him.”

“Yeah, you say that now,” she returned, looking up at him. Her eyes were a cold grey against his warm caramel but neither could look away. “You’re too nice to me Kaidan.”

He smiled. Her eyes shifted to his lips, warm and welcoming. “Maybe you deserve it,” he whispered.  
She swallowed hard, sitting back. “Well…thank you…Commander.” She blinked and looked away.  
He cleared his throat, following suit. “You’re welcome…Delaney.”


	10. War Wounds

Chapter Ten: War Wounds.

She was still shaking as Kaidan pulled her onto the ship.

“What the hell happened down there?” Joker asked, shifting in his pilot chair.

“A thresher maw,” Ashley responded quietly, stepping around Delaney and Kaidan. He was supporting her but she couldn’t stop shaking. Tears ran down her face and dripped off her chin. “I’ll get Chakwas.” Williams ran off; her footsteps clanking rhythmically down the ramp.

She knew she was safe again, aboard the Normandy, but she couldn’t breathe. Her body hurt; her brain hurt; and all she could think of was the bodies strewn out in the sand. It looked just as it had before. Bodies burned in acid from the cavity that was a thresher maw’s mouth. Other bodies crushed and half buried as the monster tried to pull them down with it. Ashley’s footsteps faded and all she heard was screaming.

She gasped, falling from Kaidan’s support, and crumpled to the ground with her palms pressed hard against her ears. She couldn’t drown it out. They were still there: all of them, in the back of her mind, calling for her to help. Shepard, move. Help me get this door blocked. Help me move the bodies. Help me, Shepard. Help. Me.

Her hands moved from her ears to her face, trying to cover the damage of her sobbing.

“Did she get hurt?” Joker asked Kaidan quietly.

He shook his head and answered with a whisper, “Not this time.” He bent down, picking her back up. “Come on, Shepard,” he stated calmly. “Let’s get you back to your cabin.”

She let him guide her back to her cabin and settle her on the end of her bed. Flashes of the past clouded her vision, drawing closer the demons of her past. A thresher maw as not something she wanted to see again, not something she would ever expect to see again.

“I…” She tried to speak, to tell him she was fine and that he should go, but she couldn’t get the words out. Her body was still shaking, even as she had calmed her breathing. Her eyes couldn’t focus too long on one thing without images of Akuze dancing before them. This was what she meant by not being a soldier anymore. Her mind couldn’t take the pain of seeing all that fall apart again. She didn’t want to see soldiers lying in the sand, covered in blood and acid, dead. She couldn’t see it again.

And yet that’s what had greeted them on the surface of the planet. That’s all she could see.

Kaidan moved to sit beside her, wrapping her shoulders with the loose blanket she left on the bench. She still wouldn’t sleep in the bed, even after their conversation. His arm hesitated around her. He didn’t want to let go but he didn’t know if she wanted him there. As he finally decided to pull away, she grabbed onto the front of his shirt, like a child in need of someone.

She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his shoulder. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to focus on his breathing and not think. He sat there for a moment, stiff, before settling around her; his arms pulling her closer.

“Just breathe,” he whispered. She slowly let out the breath she was holding and drew in more air; throat ragged and body tight. She was still shivering but her body was relaxing into him, reacting more in sporadic spasms than anything else. He was warm, comfortable, and with her eyes closed she felt almost as if she could sleep.

“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered, half muffled with her mouth close to his chest.

He chuckled. Her face went warm. “Don’t be sorry.” She sighed, turning her head to look up at him. Her face was near his neck and she could see the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

“I’m still sorry. It’s not very leader like to have a breakdown on a mission,” she continued to whisper. “I’m glad you were there though. And I’m glad…I’m glad you’re here now.” She pushed off of him, looking him in the eye. “Thank you.”

He smiled, moving his hand to cup her cheek. She flushed red; heart suddenly in a panic again. “I’ll be here whenever you need me,” he stated. Her whole body tingled at his words. Silence filled between them. He began to move his hand away and she stopped him, placing her hand swiftly on his.

“Can you stay?” she asked, barely audible. “Can you stay with me a while?”

He rubbed his thumb across her cheek, indicating his hand wouldn’t move again. Her own hand slipped to his wrist and her eyes darted to the floor. He leaned forward, and in an instant, his lips were on hers. She no longer felt panicked. Her body grew limp as she leaned into the kiss. Her eyes fluttered closed and a quiet moan left her lips.

He pulled away, looking everywhere but her face. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he muttered, dropping his hand from her cheek.

Her eyes snapped open. “No,” she nearly shouted. She paused, calming herself before continuing. “No…it’s fine. I…thank you.”

He smirked, looking her back in the eye. “It was my pleasure.”


	11. Virmire

Part Three: Final Push  
Chapter Eleven: Virmire.

She never felt more like an Alliance soldier than when she was standing on the beaches directing Ashley to go with the salarian teams. She is a soldier, Delaney thought, trying to keep her hands from fidgeting too much. Ashley will be fine. The nerves were bubbling up in her stomach as she thought of what was going to happen. She would lead a strike team while the rest of her crew split into distraction units. They were going to stop Saren, one way or another.

Swallowing the bile in her throat, Delaney pushed forward. Her team moved with great precision through enemy lines and more than once gave the other squads a boost but she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling she had as she approached the bomb drop site.

Kaidan took a step around her, helping the soldiers move the bomb into place. “You alright?” he asked, turning away from the other three men setting the bomb down. She was used to him asking that, under his breath so no one else could hear him. He didn’t treat her like a superior officer at times but it was never condescending. It was always rightfully placed concern.

She nodded. “Yeah…I just have this weird fe—”

“Commander, can you read me?” Ashley called over the comms. Delaney took a deep breath.

“The nuke is almost ready….get to the rendezvous point, Ash!” she called back, trying not to think of the worst. There was a slight pause on the radio before Ashley continued.

“Negative. The geth have us pinned down here at the AA tower. We’ve taken heavy casualties…” The radio cracked, buzzing slightly. Delaney could hear the panic in Ashley’s voice. “We’ll never make the rendezvous point in time.”

“Get them out of there, Joker. Now,” Delaney shouted over the comm. She couldn’t even pretend to be calm.

“Negative. It’s too hot! Can’t risk it. We’ll hold them off as long as we—”

“Ash!”

“Delaney. It’s okay,” Kaidan cut in. “I need a few minutes to finish arming the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here.”

She just nodded, looking over at Garrus and Tali for assistance. They followed without order. “We’ll be back here soon,” she muttered, locking eyes with Kaidan, “I promise.”

They took off towards the AA guns, slashing through geth as they moved. She couldn’t stop to think. She had to get Ashley and her team and get the hell out of there. The pit of her stomach boiled uneasy again.

While exiting an elevator near the AA guns, Ashley cracked over the comms again. “Delaney?”

“Yeah, Ash. We’re on our way. Just hang tight.” A geth dropship roared overhead, heading to the location of the bomb site.

“Damn. Geth are sending in reinforcements,” Garrus breathed. Delaney swallowed.

“Heads up, Alenko. We just spotted a troop ship headed to your location,” Ashley said over the line, her voice thin.

“It’s already here. There’s geth pouring out all over the bomb site.”

“Shit,” Delaney muttered. “Kaidan, can you hold them off?”

He hesitated before answering. “There’s too many. I…I don’t think we can survive until you get here. I’m activating the bomb.”

“Fuck. Kaidan hold on. I—”

“I’m making sure this bomb goes off…” He paused. “No matter what.” She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. “It’s done, Commander. Go get Williams and get the hell out of here.”

“Screw that!” Ashley shouted over the comms. “We can handle ourselves. Go back and get Alenko.”  
Delaney swallowed. “Kaidan, radio Joker and tell him to meet us at the bomb site. We have to protect that bomb and make sure it goes off.”

There was a beat of silence before he came back on the comms. “Yes…ma’am. I…”

“It’s the right choice, Kaidan, and you know it,” Ashley returned.

“Ash?”

“Yeah?”

“Ash, I’m sorry. I had to make a choice and—”

“I understand,” she answered quietly. “I don’t regret a thing.”

“I know. You never were the type to regret.”

“And one last thing, Dee. It was nice knowing you.”

“I—” Delaney tried to respond but she could think of anything that was good enough. The line buzzed as she clicked off. I’m so sorry. It shouldn’t be like this.

Garrus tapped her on the shoulder. “Let’s go, Delaney. We have a job to do.” His voice was calm but distant. He knew just what it meant to turn around. They were going to lose her and there wasn’t anything else they could do.


	12. Say Goodbye

Chapter Twelve: Say Goodbye.

She slammed her hand against the desk, feeling the pain ride up her arm and into her shoulder. She hated all of this. Ashley had begun to feel like family and now she was gone. She was gone, the Council no longer felt Delaney was a good fit to go after Saren, and Anderson put his job on the line just so she could steal the ship and kill the bastard.

She would there was no doubt in that.

But her soul hurt. She was tired of the growing list of people that died before her. She was tired of reciting their names before bed and now adding quietly Jenkins and Williams like badges and medals. They were wounds she couldn’t explain to a doctor. They weren’t visible.

Sighing, she moved over to the bed, settling on the edge with a gentle thud. Her hands cupped her face as she tried to think. If they fucked this up, there was no going back. They had one chance to do this. One chance to make up for those that died because of all this. One chance to prove to herself that she was a soldier, that she was someone who could lead. Her hands balled up into fists.

The door slid open. She looked up to see Kaidan entering; his eyes trained on hers. She sighed, relief and panic filling her in equal measure. Was he disappointed in her too? Ashley was their friend. They had worked with her the past few months and worked well together. She had talked about Kaidan teasingly with her, picking up on the fact Delaney liked him. They were friends. But that was all gone now.

“Hey…” He started like he normally started any conversation with her, gentle and calm. His voice was warm and calming.

She stood. “Hey,” she returned. Her hands dropped out of fists, hanging limp at her sides. She took a deep breath. “How you holding up?”

He chuckled. “I was going to ask you that.” She hummed. “Not exactly how I thought this would be going. We mutinied, stole a prototype warship, and if the Alliance wants to get technical, we could be put up on kidnapping charges.”

She smiled, weakly, unable to completely reassure herself let alone the man standing only a few feet away from her. “Well. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I just keep trying to convince myself we’re doing the right thing.” She paused, looking down at her hands. “I’m a hard person to convince to be honest.”

Kaidan smiled back. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe it was the right thing to do, Delaney.”

“I know,” she muttered. “I know.”

There was a beat of silence. Kaidan took a half step forward, sheepishly looking away and back to her.  
“It’ll really hit the fan when we get to Ilos. If things don’t go well…” His voice trailed off for a second.

“Kaidan…” She could feel the pit of her stomach drop. If he talked like that, things wouldn’t go well. If he was ready for the worst all they had was the worst.

“Hear me out alright?” She fell silent and he continued. “If things don’t go well, I just want you to know…well…I’ve enjoyed serving with you.”

She chuckled, moving over to her desk. “Well, it definitely hasn’t been a walk in the park.”

“No, it hasn’t.” He watched her pull out a bottle of whiskey, open it, and turn to him. “When did you pick that up?”

“You remember that reporter, Emily Wong?” He nodded, stepping up to her to take the bottle. He looked it over. “Well, we traded favors and she got me a bottle. I remember you saying you like whiskey better than scotch so…” She handed him a glass. “If things go south, I’d rather have one last hurrah.”

“Things aren’t going to go south…I just…”

“Yeah, I understand.” She tilted her glass to him. “You gonna pour or just stand there looking like an idiot?”

He laughed. “Are you sure we should drink? We only have a few hours until the drop.”

“You’re a biotic and I am very talented in holding my liquor…why not?” She was teasing him and he was still worried about her.

“Maybe we shouldn’t.”

She blinked at him, suddenly aware they were only a few inches apart. “We shouldn’t…what?” She added the last part as if trying to convince herself that they weren’t teasing anymore, that something serious was between them even though serious things weren’t in her nature. He didn’t seem to be someone that would just approach such an advance head on and she wasn’t someone to wait, to hope, but he was only inches away and she could feel his heat radiate from him.

His face flushed red and she knew there was something more now than just drinks. She knew the kiss they shared earlier was more than just kindness and alcohol. He wasn’t one to do things lightly. She was and he was keeping his distance, waiting.

“I…” He started but stopped, licking his lips and looking away.

She swallowed; her eyes never leaving his lips. They felt so warm that day, even for a fleeting moment. Her heart pounded in her chest. She leaned forward, closing her eyes just as her lips met his, light and careful.

He hesitated only a moment then pressing into her. His hands moved around, placing the glass and the bottle back on the desk before settling on her waist. Her own hands trembled as they moved to place her glass down and fluttered up to his face as she kissed him harder. Their lips parted, tongues clashing. She slipped her fingers down his chest, drawing lines down to his waistband. She fumbled with his buckle, every inch of her excited yet scared. He pulled away from her a moment, unclasping his belt and pulling up his shirt. She shifted out of her own and slipped out of her bra in one quick motion. The cool air of the room crossed over her but before she could shiver he was holding her again; his warmth enveloped her and she settled back into his kiss with a moan.

Kaidan slid his hands down, grabbing her backside and lifting her away from the table. He turned to the bed. Dropping her gently against the comforter, he stepped out of his pants and moved to cover her once again, but she was faster, fluidly shifting around him. He landed on the bed with a quiet thud, a laugh escaping his lips. She stood, shimmied out of her pants, and sauntered up onto the bed; eyes locked on his. They moved up the comforter together and when they reached the headboard, they collapsed together in a flurry of kisses.

His hands held her close, drawing up and down her back, feeling scars and worn grooves. He was trying to memorize her with every kiss and every touch. She slid her hand down his chest once more, finding him ready between her legs, and guided him. As he entered she gasped in his ear. She moved slowly against him, rhythmically; the speed only matched by every whimper and moan that escaped her lips.

Kaidan moved his hips hard against her. She shivered, gasping against him. She whispered his name and he grabbed her, spinning her on the bed and pinning her down. He slipped inside again, harder, faster than before. She groaned; her head tilting back against the pillow. She dug her nails against the curve of his back as he pulsed. Their bodies moved together harmoniously.

Delaney whimpered; his name escaping her lips once more. She guided his hand down between her thighs and she gasped as his callus fingers brushed against her sensitive bundle of nerves. Her breath grew ragged as he teased her and thrusted. Her body tingled and with a sharp gasp, she climaxed; her body tightening around him. He shook for an instance before release.

She closed her eyes with a satisfied hum. Kaidan rolled to the side, trying to slow his breathing. “This’ll be the first time I’ve actually been in this bed,” she stated teasingly.

He laughed. “Same.”

She giggled, sitting up to find the comforter that slid to the floor soon after they started. She carefully draped it over him and she disappeared under the blanket.

“You going to stay under there the whole time?”

“You can’t beat the view,” she called, voice muffled by the blanket. He felt her hand against his side as she crawled out from under. She smiled at him. “I wish this was a more permanent arrangement.” Kaidan sighed, looking up at the ceiling. She turned into him, settling against his arm. “You know…after all this is over…I’m done with the Alliance.”

He shot a glance at her. “Why?”

She hummed. “I’m not a huge fan of their rules.”

“I noticed,” he chuckled.

“I wonder if I could use my new found Spectrehood to get me a new ship and reopen some trade lines,” she muttered to herself.

“What about the Normandy?” he stated almost coldly.

“If we make it you mean?”

“We will.”

“Well,” she sighed, “I suppose I’ll leave it to you.” She smiled at him but he moved his gaze to the ceiling once more.

“Just promise me, you’ll make it out of this, and we can talk about it after.”

She blinked up at him, watching his nose flare as he breathed. “I’m fine with that,” she whispered, kissing his neck. She could see him smile out of the corner of his eye. She kissed him again and again, closing in on his ear. She grabbed the lobe between her teeth and gently tugged.

“You never stop do you?”

She hummed, drawing her tongue against his flesh. “Never,” she whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: This Ends Now.

It felt like the air had been sucked out of her lungs as the Mako tumbled to a stop in the Presidium. Through everything, the knowledge of the protheans, Saren, Sovereign, she couldn’t exactly place how she was going to fix things. She slowly pulled herself out of the vehicle, checking her armor for any tears before standing up.

“Everyone alright?” she called. Kaidan was the first to appear after her, followed by Garrus, both shaking their heads in disbelief and shaking off debris.

“Who would have thought that damned statue was a relay,” Kaidan breathed.

“The thing always gave me the creeps,” Garrus returned, taking out his rifle.

It didn’t take them long to find themselves in the elevator. Delaney held her side, feeling a twinge of pain rising up as she breathed.

“Delaney, are you—”

“I’m fine, Kaidan, honest. I’ve been through worse.” The elevator jarred to a stop, lights flickering. Delaney stood straighter, checking the connection on her helmet. “I guess we are going for a stroll, boys.”  
With gravity boots locked to the outside of the elevator, they moved up to the Council room; they fought through geth and debris with Sovereign ever looming in the distance. Delaney swallowed. We just have to make it to the top. We just have to make it.

She felt her side twinge again, causing her to stumble out of cover.

“Look out!” Kaidan moved before her, shooting his pistol at an enemy geth before landing a blast of biotics on him. “Seriously, Delaney. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I just pulled something when we jumped through the relay. I’ll be fine.” She stood, pressing forward. They only had a few more yards to go until they were at the top floor.

One, two, three. She counted her breaths with every enemy she took down. If she focused on anything besides the pain in her side, she could make it. She could feel Kaidan near her; his eyes watching her carefully as they pushed into the tower. He was worried about her. She was worried about the situation. “Fan out, keep the place secure,” she ordered, trying to keep her voice calm. They climbed the stairs two at a time, taking down the last of Saren’s support. She caught a glance at Saren out of the corner of her eye and sidestepped a grenade, rolling into cover. “Hey, asshole,” she shouted. “You missed.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t make it in time, Delaney,” Saren hissed.

“In time for what?”

“The final confrontation, I think we both expected it would end like this. Especially everything we’ve been through together. Funny though…to see you with the Alliance. Never thought a crook like you would get so far.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment from a man with a robo arm.”

Saren chuckled. “You’ve lost. You know that, don’t you? In a few minutes, Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel’s systems. The relay will open. The Reapers will return.”

“I’ve still got a few tricks. You should know me better than that,” she called back, clicking the heat sink in her pistol.

“You survived our encounter on Virmire. But I’ve changed since then. Improved. Sovereign has…upgraded me.”

“What are you geth?” she scowled back. Saren wasn’t in control of himself. Even when he hired her he had been his own person, now he was a pawn. She could feel it in the coldness of his words. “Look, having Sovereign implant you is insane. All he wants is control. Listen, Saren! Sovereign is manipulating you. He’s…he’s indoctrinating you.”

“You’ve said that before on Virmire. And Sovereign sensed my hesitation. I was implanted to strengthen my resolve. I should thank you,” Saren returned, his voice cold and distant. “All my doubts are gone. I understand that the Reapers need organics. Join us, Delaney. Sovereign could use a woman like you.”

“Sovereign is controlling you. Saren, can’t you see?” She peeked around cover. “Listen to me, we can still beat him. If you just step aside, we can stop the invasion. You know you don’t want this. You don’t want to be controlled. When I met you, you told me who was in charge. You. If I wanted to get paid I had to do things your way. But not anymore. Sovereign is in charge. This isn’t like you.”

Saren hesitated. “I…but the visions…I…”

“Fight it.”

“Maybe you’re right…maybe there’s still a chance for…ugh!” He gasped as the implants tried to correct his behavior. He fought back, thrashing against the pain. “It’s too late for me…Sovereign is too strong…I…I’m sorry.” He pulled out his gun, leveled it with his head. “Thank…thank you, Delaney…and…and goodbye.” He pulled a trigger. The blast ripped through his skull, and he fell, tumbling to the glass to the atrium floor.

Delaney ran forward, looking over the control panel and inserting the data code she gained back on Ilos. “It worked. I’ve got control of all the systems.” She breathed a sigh of relief; her side tugging slightly. She winced but tried to not let Kaidan see.

“Open the station’s arms,” Garrus called. “Maybe the fleet can take Sovereign down!”

“See if you can get comms,” Kaidan added, looking down at the atrium and at Saren’s body. Delaney clicked away at her omni-tool, pulling up comms.

They flickered to life instantly. “…the Destiny Ascension. Main drivers offline…the Council is on board. I repeat, the Council is on board.”

“Shit,” she hissed. “I don’t need this now.”

“Normandy to the Citadel,” Joker cracked over the line. “Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me it’s you, Dee.”

“It’s me, Joker.”

“We caught that distress call. I’m sitting here with the Andura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet. We can save the Ascension…just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we’ll send in the cavalry.” She could hear the hope in his voice but she was worried. People were going to die for this. “What’s the order?”

This is why she hated to be in charge. This is why she was better off a smuggler not a soldier. No one’s lives depended on a smuggler except her crew, not a whole fleet.

She took in a deep breath. “I’m unlocking the relays. If we lose the Council, we lose the only order this damned place has.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The ships came quickly through the relays, hundreds of them blasting their way through the arms. Delaney took the chance to step forward on the platform. She didn’t want to think too much about the war outside the tower. Her eyes fell on Saren’s body. She swallowed.

“Go check if he’s dead. I don’t want any question.”

Garrus and Kaidan moved to jump into the atrium. Garrus leveled his gun to Saren’s head and shot again. “He’s dead,” Kaidan radioed back.

“Good,” she returned. Kaidan turned back to Saren’s body, the ground around him covered in electrical charge. The room shook; electricity snapping through the dead body of Delaney’s former employer.  
The ground crumbled underneath her and she dropped into the atrium below.

“Delaney,” Kaidan called, a few feet away. “Are you alright?” He stumbled over the rubble, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up.

“Yeah.” She looked over at where Saren’s body had been and where now a monster stood, towering over them and bouncing from wall to wall like a geth ghost. “Shit.” She pushed away from Kaidan, shooting round after round at Saren, catching him off guard enough to through an overload or two in combination with Kaidan’s biotics and Garrus’ sharp shot.

It took far longer than she had hoped to take him down but before long his body crumbled into dust; nothing was left of her former employer.

The Normandy outside took its final shots at Sovereign, knocking the last clinging arm from the tower. It topped from the tower, shields fallen. The fleet took the chance to blast through Sovereign, Normandy at the head, sending a blast through the core of it.

The tower shook. Delaney looked at the window to see part of Sovereign spinning towards them. “Run,” she shouted. “Run!” They moved as fast as they good away from the window. Delaney clutched her side in pain, stumbling over the edge of the atrium.

The debris hit, blasting a dark cloud into the air. Delaney fell, disappearing into the rubble.

Kaidan took cover; his heart pounding. As the dust settled, he looked over the wrecked tower. Fires burned bright in the trees around the fountain and the metal chuck that had rolled through the window was only a few feet away from him.

He swallowed. “Delaney,” he called. There was no answer. “Delaney!” Rescue teams moved in soon after. Garrus appeared from behind a fallen column and looked at Kaidan with worry on his face. “I can’t find her,” he whispered.

“She’s got to be alive,” Garrus returned. “She isn’t one to die.”

Anderson stepped up beside him. He placed a hand on Kaidan’s shoulder. “It’s over,” he stated to the Commander. “You’re safe now…” There was a pause. “Where’s—”

“We need to find her,” he breathed. “She’s still in there.”

Anderson looked past him, narrowing his eyes. After a few moments, he smiled. “Well, hell,” he muttered.  
Kaidan turned, a few feet before him was Delaney, clutching her side, arm covered in blood. “I need to learn to run faster,” she whispered. Kaidan grinned at her, more than glad to see her still alive. She took a half step forward and collapsed against him. “I’m retiring after this. There’s no question about it now,” she breathed, settling her forehead against his neck.

“Whatever you say, Commander,” he returned, wrapping his arms carefully about her.


	14. Epilogue

Chapter Fourteen: Epilogue.

“We ship out tomorrow,” he whispered; breath hot against her neck. She sighed, looking up at the flickering orange lights outside the window. From where they were, in a hotel hidden in the bowel of the wards, no one would have known that the presidium had been destroyed. “Did you hear me?” She hummed. “I know you didn’t want me to say but—”

“It’s fine. I understand.” Her voice was thin, distant. “Do you know what time?”

“0630.”

She hummed again, searching for his far arm. She grabbed for his wrist and gently tugged it. He obliged, wrapping his arm around her. “That’s damned early.” She turned on her side, burying her face in his chest. “You should get some sleep,” she muttered.

Delaney knew this day was coming. They had spent three weeks on the Citadel as the Council and the Alliance figured out their next move. Kaidan was in charge of the Normandy now. Delaney had enough clout as a Spectre to get any other ship she needed for anything she was going to do. But for now all she wanted to do was stay in bed and hope that 0630 didn’t ever come around.

“I’ll sleep when you do,” he whispered

“I don’t think I can sleep,” she returned.

“I don’t think I can either,” he stated, though his voice was already growing quiet.

She placed her mouth against his chest, gently kissing. “What was the Alliance’s plan anyway?”

“We’re hunting down geth,” he sighed, knowing that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear.

“But the Reapers,” she returned, lifting her head up.

His eyes were closed as he spoke, “I know, but that’s what they want. That’s what the Council wants too.”

She pursed her lips, placing her forehead back on his chest. “Assholes,” she muttered.

Kaidan chuckled, tracing his hand across her back. She shivered under his touch but she made no motion for him to stop.

“If you were still with the Alliance, you would be in charge of the Normandy and—”

“Still be mindlessly hunting down geth,” she murmured, twisting in the sheets so she could stare at the ceiling again.

He grunted a quiet response. She looked at him; his eyes were closed and he was already drifting to sleep. 

“Go to sleep, Kaidan. You really do have an early day tomorrow,” she cooed, gently running her hand through his hair.

He grunted again. The arm across her grew heavy. “You’d be with me then…” he muttered, drifting off to sleep.

She sighed, closing her eyes. “Not if I was with the Alliance,” she concluded.

In the morning, she was gone before he woke. The hotel was moderately clean; her belongings, as few as they were, no longer were scattered across the room. She had even stacked his uniform atop his duffle bag before leaving.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes. He was an idiot to think she would be there in the morning. She wasn’t one to deal well with goodbyes, let alone stay as long as she had in the first place. Chakwas told him to be careful and now he was sitting alone in a hotel.

And the clock said 0600. He scrambled to his feet, got dressed, and stumbled out of the hotel with his duffle bag nearly dragging behind him. He tried to pay for the room quickly at the desk but the woman just smiled and said everything was complimentary.

“First human Spectre and all,” she had said blushing.

It was 0625 by the time the elevator slowed to a stop before the Normandy. Kaidan stepped out, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. She had been right. It was too damned early.

“Five more minutes and you’d have been late, Commander.” Kaidan groaned, turning to the person that stepped up beside him. “I knew I forgot to set an alarm,” she continued.

“Delaney?”

She laughed, reaching for his duffle bag. “Don’t sound so damned surprised.”

“But you said you’re done with the Alliance. I didn’t even tell you when I shipped off until last night.” He was still smiling, taking a step forward only when she did. She crossed in front of him, turning around to walk backwards as she spoke.

“You also said that the Council wanted this too right?” He nodded. “Well, as a Spectre I’m a representative of the Council.” She turned around, skipping into the Normandy’s airlock. The door closed behind them. “I couldn’t be here as your commanding office, Kaidan.” She leaned over, placing a kiss at the corner of his mouth before the inner doors slid open.

She jumped out, waving at Joker before heading to the back of the ship with Kaidan’s bag. “She’s kept me quiet for three weeks by bribe, sir, otherwise I’d been the first one to tell you,” Joker laughed. Kaidan shook his head. “Never thought we’d have another Spectre aboard huh, Commander?”

“Not in the least,” he returned, smiling.

“At least, I like this one,” Joker continued. “Well, not as much as you do but still. I like her.”


End file.
